The present invention relates generally to agricultural implements, and more particularly to a planter or similar implement designed to be towed behind a work vehicle, and that is equipped with a ladder or stairway and a platform permitting a worker to service the implement.
A wide range of agricultural implements are know and are presently in use, particularly designed for towing behind a work vehicle, such as a tractor. In one family of such implements, including tillers, planters, and so forth, a wide swath of ground can be tilled, planted, or otherwise worked in each pass of the implement in a tilled or untilled field. Planters, for example, often include frames supported by series of wheels and a tool bar extending transversely with respect to a line of movement of the implement across the field. Attached to the tool bar are a series of row units for dispensing seeds in parallel rows either in tilled or untilled soil. Seed tanks are typically supported on the implement support structure, such as just forward of or over the tool bar. Large amounts of seed may be poured into these tanks and, as the implement is advanced across the field, seeds are transferred from the tanks by the distribution system connected to the row units.
Difficulties may arise in servicing such implements owing to the need to access the upper portions of the equipment, such as the seed tanks in planters. The seed tanks may, for example, have fill openings or lids that can be removed to pour the desired seeds into the tanks prior to deploying the implement in a field. Such seeds may be inserted automatically, semi-automatically or manually into the tanks. Both before and after hauling the implement to and from the field, and while the implement is in a field, operator access to the seed tanks may be needed, such as for filling, inspection, removal of debris, and so forth. In traditional planter designs, however, the operator may be obliged to climb on the tool bar or implement support structure to access the seed tanks and any other upper-level elements of the implement. While this, in certain situations, may not pose particular problems, it is inconvenient and renders many operations difficult, such as for loading heavy sacks of seed into the tanks.
There is a need, therefore, for improved arrangements in towed implements that permit operators to more easily access upper levels of the implements, such as seed tanks in planters. There is a particular need for arrangements that permit an operator to climb on, stand on, and remain on such upper levels for extended periods, and to move securely on such levels while manipulating heavy articles, such as bags of seed.